The right hand speaks.
The left hand adds emotion to the spoken.
I look at my right and left hands, while playing the Gayageum. A powerful and precise touch by the right hand is a basic yet fundamental component of Gayageum play. The left hand plays an equally important role. The importance of elemental yet dexterous play, made possible by Nonghyun (a quivering technique), cannot be overemphasized. It is an essential technique called Shigimsae, which some say expresses the identity of Korean traditional music.
Nonghyun touches the audience’s heart with its colorful and dynamic variations. The feelings of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure are crystalized and expressed through the different renditions of Nonghyun. It enables the Gayageum player to adjust different subtle and complex feelings such as the bursting joy, weeping sorrow, and even suppressed bitterness.
As Nonghyun embraces and expresses a variety of different feelings, I would like to be a performer who can embrace and play across different genres from Korean traditional music to modern music. And through my music, I would Iike to convey the beauty of Korean music and culture, as well as the grace of God, to the world. I invite all of you to my lifelong journey, where music meets life and the life leads to new musical imaginations.
“오른 손은 말을 하고 왼손은 그 말에 감정을 더한다”
가야금을 연주하는 나의 오른손과 왼손을 들여다 봅니다. 가야금 연주에 있어 힘있고 야무진 터치는 기본적이고 중요한 부분입니다. 그에 못지않게, 왼손의 역할도 참 중요합니다. 가장 기본적이면서 자유자재로 바뀌며 많은 역할을 할 수 있는 “농현(소리를 떠는 기법)”은 한국음악에 있어 정체성을 표현할 수 있을 정도로 중요한 시김새 입니다.
농현은 다채로우면서 다양한 변화로 듣는이의 심금을 울립니다. “희로애락”은 이 농현으로부터 결정이 되어 표현됩니다. 기쁘고 즐거운 느낌을 표현하기도 하고 우는 듯한 깊은 슬픈 느낌을 표현하기도 하고 슬픔을 참는 듯한 감정들을 이 농현 하나로 조절 할 수 있습니다.
다채로운 표현이 가능한 농현처럼 가야금을 통해 많은 색깔과 여러 장르를 소화할 수 있는 연주자가 되고 싶습니다. 그렇게 쌓인 나의 경험들을 통해 고민과 생각이 담겨 있는 나의 노래를 만들고 연주하는 연주자가 되기 원합니다. 더불어 나의 연주를 통해 한국 음악과 문화의 아름다움, 그리고 하나님의 은혜를 미국을 포함한 다양한 곳에 나누고 전하는 일에 힘을 보태고 싶습니다.
PROFILE
Eunsun "Sunny" Jung is an award-winning Gayageum player.
Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, she started playing Gayageum at 10. She has performed across countries including France, Belgium, Germany, the U.K., Japan, and the United States. In the U.S., she has performed at various venues, including the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Symphony Space in New York City. She also presented a successful solo recital in Manhattan.
She has released three full-length and one single albums, including the one that she recorded in New York City when she was selected by the South Korea government as one of the artists for the New York Residency Program.
She has toured doing lecture concerts at colleges in the U.S., including Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, Syracuse University, Hunter College, University of Hartford, and Indiana University. She was a lecturer at Gugak (Korean Traditional Music) National Middle School and taught 12-week workshops at Indiana University through the Indiana University East Asian Studies Center.
She graduated from Gugak National High School, and earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Seoul National University.